| Abstract |
Increasing the share of energy from renewable sources can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve energy security for countries that lack domestic fossil fuel resources, insulate countries from fuel price volatility and foster local economy. Although renewables are clean and sustainable energy sources, their development still has an impact on the environment. Environmental impacts are always assessed prior to any decision to develop a project and possible mitigation measures are taken to foster positive impact and minimize negative aspects. Enel Green Power has devoted a large part of its technological development to the environmental compliance of all technologies, and in particular of geothermal power plants. In the framework of a continuous improvement strategy, in addition to a maximization of plant efficiency and optimum use of the geothermal resource, which help reduce effluents, Bagnore 4 geothermal power plant has been equipped with several systems able to reduce noise, visual pollution, mercury, hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, drift emissions from cooling towers and even the reduction of steam emissions during the shut-downs. This paper describes the main issues addressed in the Bagnore 4 project, a 40 MW single flash steam power plant located in the touristic area of Mt. Amiata, boasting a broad variety of natural habitats, which represents the state of the art of Enel Green Power geothermal installations. |